(^23) And when he came near to Bascama he slew Jonathan, who was buried there.
(^24) Afterward Tryphon returned and went into his own land.
(^25) Then sent Simon, and took the bones of Jonathan his brother, and buried them in Modin, the
city of his fathers.
(^26) And all Israel made great lamentation for him, and bewailed him many days.
(^27) Simon also built a monument upon the sepulchre of his father and his brethren, and raised it
aloft to the sight, with hewn stone behind and before.
(^28) Moreover he set up seven pyramids, one against another, for his father, and his mother, and
his four brethren.
(^29) And in these he made cunning devices, about the which he set great pillars, and upon the
pillars he made all their armour for a perpetual memory, and by the armour ships carved, that they
might be seen of all that sail on the sea.
(^30) This is the sepulchre which he made at Modin, and it standeth yet unto this day.
(^31) Now Tryphon dealt deceitfully with the young king Antiochus, and slew him.
(^32) And he reigned in his stead, and crowned himself king of Asia, and brought a great calamity
upon the land.
(^33) Then Simon built up the strong holds in Judea, and fenced them about with high towers, and
great walls, and gates, and bars, and laid up victuals therein.
(^34) Moreover Simon chose men, and sent to king Demetrius, to the end he should give the land
an immunity, because all that Tryphon did was to spoil.
(^35) Unto whom king Demetrius answered and wrote after this manner:
(^36) King Demetrius unto Simon the high priest, and friend of kings, as also unto the elders and
nation of the Jews, sendeth greeting:
(^37) The golden crown, and the scarlet robe, which ye sent unto us, we have received: and we are
ready to make a stedfast peace with you, yea, and to write unto our officers, to confirm the
immunities which we have granted.
(^38) And whatsoever covenants we have made with you shall stand; and the strong holds, which
ye have builded, shall be your own.
(^39) As for any oversight or fault committed unto this day, we forgive it, and the crown tax also,
which ye owe us: and if there were any other tribute paid in Jerusalem, it shall no more be paid.
(^40) And look who are meet among you to be in our court, let then be enrolled, and let there be
peace betwixt us.
(^41) Thus the yoke of the heathen was taken away from Israel in the hundred and seventieth year.
(^42) Then the people of Israel began to write in their instruments and contracts, In the first year
of Simon the high priest, the governor and leader of the Jews.
(^43) In those days Simon camped against Gaza and besieged it round about; he made also an engine
of war, and set it by the city, and battered a certain tower, and took it.
marcin
(Marcin)
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